Birkenbog House

Birkenbog House is a large house, likely dating from the 1730s and 1740s, with elements of an earlier mansion or tower house. It was remodelled between 1795 and 1800 to become the principal dwelling following a fire. The house is two storeys high and consists of five bays, incorporating an earlier circular drum tower at the rear and a walled garden. A separate two-storey range is set at a right angle to the main house.

The main house is constructed of harled rubble with some ashlar dressings. The central entrance features a moulded doorpiece that incorporates a reused armorial dating from 1693. Above the door is a rectangular fanlight with decorative glazing and original glass, leading to a double-leaf door, the current flush facing possibly concealing earlier panelling. The window pattern is somewhat irregular with single windows on either side of the doorway and five windows on the first floor. Rear fenestration is also irregular, with one first-floor window now blocked (originally lighting a former parlour) and a new ground-floor window added. A two-storey circular drum tower is attached to the southeast corner, a remnant of the earlier house. Most windows have 12 panes of glass, with 9 panes in the drum tower. The roof is covered in Banffshire slate with coped end and rear wallhead stacks.

A later single-storey, two-bay kitchen wing is located at the north gable.

The interior features a central staircase within a semi-circular stairwell with a plain wooden balustrade. The ground and first floors are served by long front corridors. A former parlour located at the north end is now divided and contains a circa 1820 white marble chimney piece with reeded panelling and anthemion decoration. A simple moulded ceiling cornice remains in the corridor, along with raised and fielded panelled doors and window shutters. A ground-floor passage includes a mural cupboard with panelled doors.

The substantial rear walled garden is constructed of rubble and has a brick-lined south aspect. Entrances are located on either side of the house and in the centre of the south wall. A pedestrian entrance to the garden flanking the north gable has a re-used studded plank door with a blacksmith wrought-iron handle and heart-shaped brackets.

A separate range of buildings, mainly two storeys, extends at a right angle to the house on the north side of the garden. These buildings date from around 1800 or earlier and are constructed of rubble, with some harling. The earliest building within this range is a three-bay house with tooled ashlar margins. A blocked first-floor centre window and 16-pane glazing in surviving first-floor windows are notable, with varied glazing elsewhere. A single-storey former detached kitchen abuts the east gable of the house, and a two-storey, two-bay gig house is continuous at the west gable. The gig house features a brick-faced segmental-headed entrance and two first-floor windows.

All buildings have coped end stacks and Banffshire slate roofs. A pair of low square rubble gatepiers with shaped caps mark the entrance.